ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

Mimic_Octopus:ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

If it's to protect kids, people will accept and approve anything.

Down here in L.A., some city planners are building a park near some low-cost housing--where no park previously existed, and where nobody even wanted one--because a lot of sex offenders are living there, and if there's a park there, the offenders will have to move. But it's all okay, because it's to protect the kids. If someone is suspected of being a possible child molester, then we will fire him, blacklist him, and make sure his life is ruined even before he's arrested--to protect the kids. And nobody will care.

Child molestation is an awful, hideous crime with no excuse. But what we do to the alleged perpetrators in the name of "protecting the children" isn't any better.

"Police said investigation began about three weeks ago when an Oviedo officer posing as a minor, posted an ad on Craig's List. "

Every pedophile should be locked up forever, but what the hell is a cop doing trolling for kiddie didlers on Craigslist? Shouldn't the cops be informing internet bulletin boards of illegal messages like this?

Gyrfalcon:Mimic_Octopus: ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

If it's to protect kids, people will accept and approve anything.

Down here in L.A., some city planners are building a park near some low-cost housing--where no park previously existed, and where nobody even wanted one--because a lot of sex offenders are living there, and if there's a park there, the offenders will have to move. But it's all okay, because it's to protect the kids. If someone is suspected of being a possible child molester, then we will fire him, blacklist him, and make sure his life is ruined even before he's arrested--to protect the kids. And nobody will care.

Child molestation is an awful, hideous crime with no excuse. But what we do to the alleged perpetrators in the name of "protecting the children" isn't any better.

That seems counter-productive.

I'm not a fan of lifetime offender registries - after someone has served their time they don't deserve to have the shadow of that crime follow them around forever, but if the state wants the registry, shouldn't they be happy that they know where the offenders are? If they build a park and force them all to move they'll have to keep track of a bunch of new addresses, and there's always the possibility one of them could slip between the cracks.

Having a lot of them in one place seems like it would make it easier to manage the system.

However, I really hate it when they write articles like this where they refer to the fictional "victim" (a cop posing as a teenager) as a "child under 16" or "a child under 18", or whatever the age of consent might be in a given state.

So how old did he think the girl was? 15? 14? 11?

It's an important distinction. If anything, for those of us who can be a bit pedantic about these things, it clarifies whether he's a pedophile (going for a pre-pubescent child) or an ephebophile (going for a sexually-mature teenager).

If he's after children, that's one thing. If he's a poor schmuck who let his dick think for him when a (fake) hottie said "I'll be 16 in March. Come over and f♥ck me!" then I feel a little sympathy for him. It's not deviant to be attracted to someone who is sexually mature (biologically speaking). It's poor judgment, tacky, and a bit creepy... But it's not deviant. However, it IS illegal, depending on what state you're in.

The sad and stupid thing is that it wouldn't be a crime in some other states. We should set a federal age of consent (I say 15 or 16 is fine. That's when most of us lost ours in the 80s, anyway) and stop this idiotic game of treating it like a crime in one state, but making it perfectly legal in another. This isn't like marijuana or traffic laws. If we're going to ruin people's lives over this, then we need to make it an across-the-board law for every state.

Incidentally, I lost mine on my 16th birthday, to a 19-year-old. The AoC in my state is 16. TECHNICALLY, she was breaking the law because I was born around 4:00 pm, and we did it around noon. Either way, I do not feel damaged, corrupted, or resentful over it. Frankly, I was thankful then, and I remain thankful today. If we had done it 13 hours earlier, it would have been a crime and she could have had her life ruined if anyone wanted to make a fuss over it (or if an overzealous D.A. found out).

How does that make ANY sense?

Now, I have no doubt that the guy in TFA is a Creepy McCreeperston, but I still think the article should be SPECIFIC about the age of the fictional victim he thought he was going to meet. Further, I think it's terrible that we can arrest and charge a man for showing up when there's no actual underage girl there, and he doesn't actually commit the crime of having sex with an underage girl. They're arresting him for having the intention of doing so.

If I walk into a bank with a gun in my pocket, and then walk right out without robbing the place, should I be arrested for intended bank robbery?

If I get pissed at someone and ball my fist, then think better of it and choose not to take a swing at them, can I be arrested for intent to commit assault and battery?

I think it's one of those slippery slopes, and it's ridiculous that we punish people for not breaking the law, but thinking about maybe, possibly doing it if the opportunity arises.

Mimic_Octopus:ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

TuteTibiImperes:Gyrfalcon: Mimic_Octopus: ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

If it's to protect kids, people will accept and approve anything.

Down here in L.A., some city planners are building a park near some low-cost housing--where no park previously existed, and where nobody even wanted one--because a lot of sex offenders are living there, and if there's a park there, the offenders will have to move. But it's all okay, because it's to protect the kids. If someone is suspected of being a possible child molester, then we will fire him, blacklist him, and make sure his life is ruined even before he's arrested--to protect the kids. And nobody will care.

Child molestation is an awful, hideous crime with no excuse. But what we do to the alleged perpetrators in the name of "protecting the children" isn't any better.

That seems counter-productive.

I'm not a fan of lifetime offender registries - after someone has served their time they don't deserve to have the shadow of that crime follow them around forever, but if the state wants the registry, shouldn't they be happy that they know where the offenders are? If they build a park and force them all to move they'll have to keep track of a bunch of new addresses, and there's always the possibility one of them could slip between the cracks.

Having a lot of them in one place seems like it would make it easier to manage the system.

there was a kookie guy in Germany that felt the same way about other people.

BarkingUnicorn:IDK why anyone takes such a risk the first time. Are there peer-reviewed studies about the odds that the minor you're arranging sex with is or isn't a cop?

Surely that Nigerian prince is going to send me my cut for letting use my bank account for a few hours. And look right here, it's an international postal order for $4000 more than the $23 item on eBay was supposed to be, I'll just deposit it and send the remainder back to that gentleman with a car to sell who turned out to be in Alaska.

It doesn't matter how cynical you and are or how aware the main stream becomes, there's been suckers out there since the dawn of time. And yes, the cops did a con job verging on the pre-crime police in Minority Report.

KrispyKritter:TuteTibiImperes: Gyrfalcon: Mimic_Octopus: ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

If it's to protect kids, people will accept and approve anything.

Down here in L.A., some city planners are building a park near some low-cost housing--where no park previously existed, and where nobody even wanted one--because a lot of sex offenders are living there, and if there's a park there, the offenders will have to move. But it's all okay, because it's to protect the kids. If someone is suspected of being a possible child molester, then we will fire him, blacklist him, and make sure his life is ruined even before he's arrested--to protect the kids. And nobody will care.

Child molestation is an awful, hideous crime with no excuse. But what we do to the alleged perpetrators in the name of "protecting the children" isn't any better.

That seems counter-productive.

I'm not a fan of lifetime offender registries - after someone has served their time they don't deserve to have the shadow of that crime follow them around forever, but if the state wants the registry, shouldn't they be happy that they know where the offenders are? If they build a park and force them all to move they'll have to keep track of a bunch of new addresses, and there's always the possibility one of them could slip between the cracks.

Having a lot of them in one place seems like it would make it easier to manage the system.

there was a kookie guy in ...

Like I said, I'm not a fan of the registries in the first place, but if you're going to have one, forcing a bunch of them to move once you already know where they are doesn't seem like a great plan.

Mimic_Octopus:ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

Yeah about that. You really don't get due process when it comes to your job.

ZeroCorpse:Dude's a creep, but then, he was also apparently invited to be one.

Do you ever turn down invitations?

Sure, sting operations like this may seem a little creepy, but presenting an opportunity to commit a crime is not the same as coercing someone into committing a crime.

It would be interesting to know what the ad said and if there were any pictures, but if you're cruising Crag's List looking for some "company" and it's clearly an underage girl offering it, it's very easy to ignore it. I'm sure there are plenty of other types of offers for such things that don't involve minors. But no, this guy picked the young girl he thought he could ply with porn and candy.

The fact is some people really do seek out minors because they're into the young girls. Law enforcement could ignore it and wait until someone complains and then try to make a case for it, but this is crime prevention.

People complain all the time that police only react after a crime is committed, but here they are actively trying to prevent crime from affecting actual victims and then people like you complain about them are being proactive.

If they're not just going to be reactive, this is their only option other than to monitor every movement and every communication that anyone and everyone makes.

It's really astounding. Did you ever watch "To Catch a Predator"? If it's not astounding enough that some guys take the bait, some of them took it more than once.

These guys weren't entrapped. They believed they were going to get some kid. They knew it was illegal. I never saw one episode where the guy said, "Yeah, I knew she was 14, what's wrong with that? She wanted me."

I can't believe that some guys are stupid enough to still fall for this shiat. Seriously. A forty something man thinking "omg..she's 14 and totally wants to do me...YAY" Then driving off to meet her, only to be met by a platoon of officers who haul him off to federal PYITA prison. If you wanna bang underage poon, just do what the rich folks do, go to a shiat third world country where 5 bucks USD is worth like 5000 of their dollars. Not like you would be the first there. Or the last.

jmr61:Mimic_Octopus: ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

Yeah about that. You really don't get due process when it comes to your job.

That is precisely why the cops have no business broadcasting arrests before convictions happen. In fact it is insane that arrests are public record without an alleged perp's consent.

Mimic_Octopus:jmr61: Mimic_Octopus: ftfa : School Board officials were notified of Thorpe's arrest and advised they would take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the students.

soooo, everyone is just cool with the outright dismissal of due process right ? from arrest to fired and ostracized, skip right past evidence and trial and conviction, over some 'internet sting' ? 1. it seems cops are more into kiddy porn all day everyday on the internet than the 3 freaks a year they catch. 2. DO you think this bypassing our protections will stop with the lowest of the low that we are expected to not care about the rights of ?

Yeah about that. You really don't get due process when it comes to your job.

That is precisely why the cops have no business broadcasting arrests before convictions happen. In fact it is insane that arrests are public record without an alleged perp's consent.

Yeah, I tried arguing that here before.

Got a couple "Won't someone think of the children?!" responses.I think I got a couple of "We have a right to know" too.